Third-quarter surge lifts Barrington past Huntley
Barrington ended up getting the better deal in the two halves of boys basketball Tuesday night against visiting Huntley.
Huntley, the Fox Valley Conference’s Valley Division leader, played well in building a 25-15 first-half lead over the Broncos.
But Barrington, a co-leader in the Mid-Suburban West Division, turned up the defensive pressure by outscoring the Red Raiders 30-13 in the second half. The result was a Broncos 45-38 nonconference win as Barrington improved to 12-8.
Barrington’s Brad Zaumseil led the Broncos with a double-double, scoring 17 points and hauling in 11 rebounds. He had plenty of support, as Robby Vollman finished with 10 points and Scott Nelson had 9 points and 6 rebounds.
“We rely on Brad to do his part every game for us,” said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker. “ He has to play at that high level every night. You have to tip your hat to him every night for the things that he does.
“Tonight, Vollman came out and showed senior leadership in the second half. I think he was frustrated with his play in the first half. I think he was determinded to come out swinging and brought the energy we need to start the second half. The other players responded to that.”
The Broncos went on a 5-0 run to start the third quarter. Huntley’s Zach Gorney scored the first of his (and the Raiders’) two third-quarter baskets before Barrington went on a 6-0 run to trail 27-26 with 2:27 left in the quarter.
Barrington finally took the lead on Zaumseil’s basket with 1:00 left in the quarter for a 31-29 lead.
Zaumseil scored 7 points in the third quarter and Vollman added 5.
“We came out in the second half wanting to get the ‘W’,’’ said Vollman. “We began executing better on defense and offense. I like playing defense because that can help the offense by getting, stops, turnovers and charges. Coach told us at halftime that we had to get more physical in the second half, and we did.”
Huntley (10-6) fell behind 35-29 with 5:28 left after another Zaumseil basket. Bryce Only (9 points) scored 5 in a row on a basket and 3 free throws to pull the Red Raiders to within 35-34 with 4:06 left.
Zaumseil scored again; then he fed Zach Bart with a rifle-shot pass under the basket for a 39-34 Broncos lead.
Blake Jacobs’ basket narrowed the gap to 39-36 before the Broncos made 5 free throws to get some breathing room.
“They came out and were much more physical on us,” said Huntley coach Marty Manning. “Their pressure hurt us on offense. The created turnovers which then created baskets for them.”
Highley regarded Amanze Egekeze made his first start after coming off the bench in the Red Raiders’ last two games. He scored 5 points and pulled down a team-high 6 rebounds for Huntley.
“We gave him a start due to another player’s injury,” said Manning. “It’s only his third game back from the knee injury. He just needs some time to build up his stamina. I think he did OK tonight. In 4 four or five weeks he and the rest of the team will be much better.”